Tri-Chick

Lauren Theodore, SELF's PR director (on the right in the picture), has accompanied me on many a fun outing: to the Today show (countless times) and yes, a couple of triathlons where the magazine helped spark Jennifer Lopez's interest in triathlons (at Malibu a few years back, to raise money for the Children's Hospital of LA) and Natalie Morales and Hoda Kotb.

Natalie went on to become quite the podium finisher and grace the cover of Triathlon magazine and Hoda gave away her bike and swore never to do THAT again, although she did successfully complete the race while keeping her hair mostly dry (I will never know how she did this). Well, Lauren has her own story to tell, after training all summer and finally taking to the beach last weekend for her first tri. It’s a great story, because while she gives me the credit, it’s all hers. Many people watch, listen to my boring stories of how FUN it is, what a great WORKOUT the cross training is, but few actually commit to and then complete a triathlon just hearing about it. What made her do it? Her own inner drive to be her personal best. Yes, I can be the spark, as can the pages of tips and tricks and ideas and inspiration in SELF. But at the end of the day (or the dawn of it) YOU are the one to make it happen. GO LAUREN! You inspire us all.

Jennifer Lopez and I have something in common besides brown hair and kids under 5. We are both triathletes!

Over the last few summers, I’ve accompanied Lucy to three high-profile races to represent SELF—once when Lopez and Lucy famously trained and competed together at the Nautica Malibu Triathlon, and then when our friends at the Today show and GMA each worked with SELF as their anchors met their own triathlon challenges.

Everyone in the triathlon world has always been so positive and welcoming. And they’re not all super-jocks either. I noticed that people of all ages, fitness levels, shapes and sizes were always out there enjoying themselves at these events. Their triumphs, and Lucy’s incredibly infectious enthusiasm for the sport, started me thinking “why not me?” But I had too many excuses and not enough courage: “I’m not as fit as I should be.” “I’ve never been a competitive athlete.” “I can’t run.” “I hate running.” And so on.

Then Beth, my good friend since the 3rd grade, signed up for a race (she says it’s more fun to train than to diet) and we became newbie partners in fitness crime. Slowly but steadily we eased into running, the toughest of the three disciplines for us both. As we encouraged and supported each other, we proved to ourselves that heck, we can do it.

SELF’s advice helped me prepare physically and mentally. I made a plan. I did the training and kept it a priority. I felt thankful to have a strong able body during and after completing each of the varied exercise sessions. What I didn’t do: freak out over a missed workout or waste energy comparing my performance to others.

Beth and some other training pals kept my motivation high. Jen led me on a long hilly bike ride and Megan showed me a woodsy little jogging path in town. My sister Barrie and I ran around the track. My husband, Jonathan, and daughter, Annabel, were my best boosters, as our summer weekend road trips became opportunities to ride, run and practice open-water swimming.

At my first race, I was exhilarated at the finish line and pleased with my time. The half-mile swim, 10-mile bike and 3.1-mile run took me 1:31:47, just shy of my personal goal of 90 minutes. Next race, I’ll beat that for sure.

My takeaway from this experience? If you see someone doing something healthy that looks like fun to you, go ahead and have what she’s having!